Dam.



PATBNTBD APR. i8, 1905.

DAM,

AHLIGATION FILED 1330.29, 1904.

UNITED STATES Patented April 18, 1905.

IVILLIAM J. MEYERS, OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO.

DAM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,525, dated April18, 1905.

Application filed December 29, 1904. Serial No. 238,700.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. MEYERS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fort Collins, in the county of Larimer and State ofColorado, have invented an Improvement in Dams, of which the followingis a description.

In this specification I use the term sheet or the phrase sheet of thedam to denote that portion of the dam which is composed of substantiallyimpervious material and against which the water above and upstream fromthe dam directly presses. I use the term cutoff wall to denote thatportion of the substructure whose purpose it is to prevent or impede theunderground escape of the waters of the reservoir or basin.

My invention, brieiiy described, consists in so shaping the sheet of thedam that every section of the upstream face of said sheet normal to thecrest of the dam shall throughout the extent of said section be convexto the water of the reservoir, thus subjecting the said sheet along thesaid section to compressive stresses dependent on the degree ofcurvature of the water or upstream face of the said section and thedepth of the particular point below the free surface of the water in thereservoir, which compressive stresses are resisted by suitably-disposedmaterial of great com'- pressive strength. Such material is at the baseof the sheet suitably abutted against beams suitably attached to thecut-off wall, and at the upper part of the sheet the said material issuitably abutted against beams substantially parallel to the crest ofthe dam, which beams, either alone or with the aid of arches lying inthe plane of the load, concentrate the load at certain places which aresecurely tied or anchored to the foundation of the structure. Where thebase of the sheet and the plane of the cut-olf wall are not tangent, asthey ordinarily will not be, the resultant stress is carried to thefoundation by suitably-disposed braces.

To make the foregoing specification clearer, reference may be made tothe drawings accompanying this specification, said drawings consistingof two figures marked, respectively, Fig 1 and Fig 2 and placed onasingle sheet.

Figure l of the said drawings shows an elevation of the upstream face ofthe dam; and Fig. 2 shows a cross-section of the dam described herein,the said section being that cut by the plane whose trace is the line Yin Fig. l, which cutting plane is normal to the crest of the dam.

In Fig. 2, s denotes the sheet of the dam, which is shown as beinghorizontal at its lower edge or portion and vertical at its uppermost,as will ordinarily be the case, although the invention is not limited tothis arrangement, and under some circumstances it will be eX- pedient togive these parts of the sheet other inclinations. At the base of thesheet it abuts against the beam c and at the upper part against thebeama. The beam eis also abutted against by the cut-0H wall m, and theresultant load on e is carried to the foundation by the braces (markedt) here in tension. The braces are not, however, limited to thisposition, and under some circumstances it will be expe'dient to placethem on the downstream side of the cut-ofi1 wall, in which case` theywill be in compression and the cut-olf wall will be in tension.

The load upon the beam a is concentrated, by means of the beam alone orwith theaid of inverted arches, to certain places,whence it is tied oranchored to the foundation. j in Figs. 1 and 2 shows the soiiit orvertex of one of these inverted arches, and Figs. l and' 2, shows theshort beam, against which the load is concentrated. -The beam b is tiedto the foundation by the cables (marked c in Figs. 1 and 2.)

When the reservoir is empty, or nearly so, the buoyant edect of thewater being largely or entirely absent, the sheet will need to besupported in position. For this purpose stiifening beams or trusseslying in planes normal to the crest of the dam and suitably attached tothe beams a and e will be inserted in the sheet in its construction, andthe beam a will be provided with posts P, Figs. l and 2, for itssupport, these posts receiving their load either directly from the beama or indirectly through arches having their softits at f, Figs. 1 and 2,and their springing-points at g, Figs. l and 2.

The curve of the water-face or upstream face of the sheet s i-n Fig. 2is one the radius of curvature at any point of which is inverselyproportional to the depth of that point below the free surface of theWater in the reservoir, thus making the compressive stress uniform atall points of the curve; but the invention is not limited to the use ofsuch curve.

For the material in compression I shall in most cases use concrete andfor that in tension high steel; but I do not limit myself to anyparticular material or materials.

/Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, 1s-

An improvementin dams for resisting fluidpressure, which saidimprovement consists of a substantially or sufHcie-ntly impervious sheetwhose section in a plane normal to the crest of the dam is substantiallyeverywhere conveX to the impounded Huid, the said sheet being supportedby compressively-stressed material the planes of compression in whichare substantially normal to the crest of the dam, the load caused by thesaid compressive stresses being transmitted through the medium of beamslor of arches or of beams and arches combined to ties and braces, throughwhich ties and braces the said load is transmitted to the foundation ofthe structure, substantially as described in the foregoingspecification, but Without restriction of the class of curve to thecircle, the hydrostatic arch or any other particular curve save that thecurve be substantialliy everywhere convex to the impounded flui InWitness whereof I have subscribed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing1 Witnesses.

WM. J. MEYERS.

Witnesses:

BALTHAsAR HENRY MEYER, EDWIN iV. KEER, Jr.

